Fabregas: Abidal is an example for the whole world

By Mark Doyle

The Spain international has nothing but admiration for his Blaugrana team-mate, who is back playing again after 14 months out

Cesc Fabregas has labelled Barcelona team-mate Eric Abidal "as an example for the whole world" for the inspirational way in which the defender has recovered from life-threatening health problems to reclaim his place the Catalans' line-up.

Abidal played all 90 minutes in the Blaugrana's 1-0 win over Levante on Saturday night, the first match he has started since undergoing a liver transplant last April.

The former France international was one of the best players on the pitch at Camp Nou, much to the astonishment of Fabregas.

The midfielder told Barca TV: “I went and told him after the game, ‘You’re the greatest.' He was spectacular.

"He played as if he had never stopped playing. He’s an example for the whole world and we hope he carries on like this because he’ll help us a lot for the rest of the season."

Indeed, Fabregas is hoping Abidal can play a key role in Barca's eagerly-awaited Champions League semi-final, first-leg clash with Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.

“They’re really strong on the wings and their forward line, for example [Mario] Mandzukic and Mario Gomez, is on fire," the former Arsenal man pointed out.

"And I really like [Thomas] Muller. I believe they have great team but so have we. It’ll be an exciting tie.

“We’re going to have a tough time in both matches. If we have possession, we have to try and finish off the moves.

"They may not play such a counter-attacking game as Real Madrid, for example, but they know how to and if [Arjen] Robben and [Franck] Ribery get the space they can do you a lot of damage."

Barca's meeting with Munich at the Allianz Arena is scheduled to get under way at 20.45CET.